It doesn't matter what corporate says...

[EshuBarakeno]

I usually hit CVS on Wednesday or Thursday. This week I couldn't make it until Saturday. The store I usually go to was out of Sobe's and so was my backup store, but I had 8 coupons that I didn't want to go to waste.

There is this CVS that I used to go to, but stopped because they always gave me trouble with my coupons. I decided to go there because it had been a long time and I figured maybe they'd know better by now. No such luck.

The cashier tells me that I can only use 1 BOGO coupon per 4 bottles of Sobe. I pull out the e-mail I received from corporate stating the proper use of BOGO coupons during BOGO sales and she starts reading it out loud.

Someone else comes over when he hears her reading it and proceeds to tell me that there is a California law prohibiting me from being able to use the coupons the way the e-mail from corporate says that I can. "Corporate doesn't know all of the state laws!" he tells me!

I don't even know what to do. Isn't showing them the corporate policy supposed to be what works?

[amylynne01]

I usually hit CVS on Wednesday or Thursday. This week I couldn't make it until Saturday. The store I usually go to was out of Sobe's and so was my backup store, but I had 8 coupons that I didn't want to go to waste.

There is this CVS that I used to go to, but stopped because they always gave me trouble with my coupons. I decided to go there because it had been a long time and I figured maybe they'd know better by now. No such luck.

The cashier tells me that I can only use 1 BOGO coupon per 4 bottles of Sobe. I pull out the e-mail I received from corporate stating the proper use of BOGO coupons during BOGO sales and she starts reading it out loud.

Someone else comes over when he hears her reading it and proceeds to tell me that there is a California law prohibiting me from being able to use the coupons the way the e-mail from corporate says that I can. "Corporate doesn't know all of the state laws!" he tells me!

I don't even know what to do. Isn't showing them the corporate policy supposed to be what works?

Ask them for the CA state law that prohibits it. If s/he can't produce a copy, ask for the manager.

That is just absurd unless there's a law that says "you shall not acquire any Sobe lifewater without the transfer of money at any CVS". I think this employee is jealous that you'd get it free and worried that the coupons will come out of his/her paycheck.

[BringontheWonder]

Call CVS corporate customer service. I had consistent problems legally using coupons, especially with B1G1 sales, at a CVS that was not my regular store. The manager at the store was generally not there or was rude to me. When I explained the situation to customer service, they expressed disbelief at the store and said they would contact them for training. I received a $7 CVS gift card for my trouble and an apology call from the district manager of that store.

[emilaybaybay]

My cvs closest to me never gets any Sobes in, so I drove to a further one that is completely out of my way to see if I could get my hands on some. This was on monday night.. The cashier was completely rude even before coupons were presented. She said 'one coupon per transaction' including CRTs... I gave her the emailed coupon policy, she talked to a supervisor, came back and said 'these are fraud, you need to come back another time to see the manager.' Tuesday morning, I called corporate, they said they'd call the district manager and he would call me.

Friday... I finally got a call fromt he district manager. He asked me about how many/what coupons I had. I told him '6 sobe BOGOs, 1 trident, 2 CRTs' His response was that '6 coupons seems reasonable, they should have been able to accomodate you.' Then proceeded to tell me that the fine print on coupons says 'one coupon per purchase' which are the rules made by the manufacturer. BUT because CVS wants to be 'customer friendly' they usually BEND THE RULES and allow us to use more than ONE coupon. So he said he'd call the store manager that day to tell him about it.

I went back to the store Friday night trying to do the same transaction as on Monday. The cashier said that my coupons were fake because there is a 'limit' and it's impossible that I could have obtained 6 legally. She spoke to at least 5 other employees and the supervisor. The supervisor stormed over to me and demanded 'THESE ARE COPIED'. I showed them how every bar code # on each coupon is different. 'NO, THESE ARE OBVIOUSLY COPIED. you can't use these.' I told them I called corporate and the district manager said I could use them and called the store manager. They immediately told me 'No, we did NOT receive that call, i JUST TALKED to the manager, he says you CAN NOT use these.' I asked to speak to the manager 3 times. Finally after 10 minutes the supervisor came and said 'the manager said it's fine' So, the cashier starts ringing me up again. Adding snide remarks every few seconds...

"Look at this edge, it's faded, that means that is was COPIED. THAT'S what we look for. this is OBVIOUSLY fake."
"I'll do this for you this time, but NEVER again"
"You shouldn't have cut this out, if you brought in the whole sheet you printed, we would KNOW it wasn't copied"
My boyfriend explained to her that we use an old laser printer so sometimes the corners are a little faded with lines.. she LAUGHED in his face saying "I HAVE a laser HONEY, it is NOT like this."

She said the printer prints something around the coupon so we know that it's legit. I pointed to the border of the coupon which has the time/date I printed it. She cut me off rudely and yelled 'STOP. LISTEN TO ME. I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU. if you bring the WHOLE sheet. we'll know it's not copied' I asked her 'wouldn't the printed page look just like.... (it would if it was copied). But was cut off again with 'NO, IT'S DIFFERENT.'

So it seems corporate/district manager/store manager don't care!?!
Sorry for the LONGGG rant.. I feel helpless and no idea what to do :(

[Mikki 316]

Emilaybabay, you are quite obviously a much more tolerant person than I am. I'm normally fairly calm and restrained, but that kind of treatment would have sent me over the edge. I don't call Corporate, and I very rarely call anyone outside a store to complain. This is one of those situations that I would most definitely call the District manager back, if not Corporate. Frankly, I could care less about the coupon issue. My problem is the way those employees treated a customer, and that's what I would convey to the people in authority. Honestly, you could easily get a decent deal elsewhere on Sobe. But the way these people treated you and your boyfriend is unaccceptable.

[carlyelyn]

i am amazed that these employees are even getting away with saying that you are committing fraud and copying coupons! i work in retail and if i ever said anything about a customer using a "fake" coupon whether it be on purpose or accident there would be serious consequences. id be pretty furious if someone accused me of such a thing as well.

[emilaybaybay]

Emilaybabay, you are quite obviously a much more tolerant person than I am.

Haha, I was practically steaming out the ears! I try to handle couponing mishaps as calmly as possible.. it's already taken a lot to convince my boyfriend that couponing is... AWESOME!?! :)

I guess I'll try to call corporate again.. but not sure if anything will be done... =/ I already asked the district manager how I should approach the situation if it happened again (which it did) and he told me there was nothing he could do. He specifically explained to me that he could NOT write me a letter explaining the correct usage of coupons. And I'm not even sure if he actually called the store... BOOO!

[ladycat00]

"You shouldn't have cut this out, if you brought in the whole sheet you printed, we would KNOW it wasn't copied"

That's crazy! Some of the coupon sites print several to a page. This morning I went to RedPlum.com and selected Quaker Oats, State Fair, and Jimmy D's. They are all 3 on one sheet.

So what if stores insisted on seeing the entire sheet, and you wanted to use those at 3 different stores? You would have to print them all separately and waste a lot of paper!

[ladycat00]

Haha, I was practically steaming out the ears! I try to handle couponing mishaps as calmly as possible.. it's already taken a lot to convince my boyfriend that couponing is... AWESOME!?! :)

I guess I'll try to call corporate again.. but not sure if anything will be done... =/ I already asked the district manager how I should approach the situation if it happened again (which it did) and he told me there was nothing he could do. He specifically explained to me that he could NOT write me a letter explaining the correct usage of coupons. And I'm not even sure if he actually called the store... BOOO!

Go back to the store, but take a local TV reporter with you wearing a hidden camera.

[cbms]

That's crazy! Some of the coupon sites print several to a page. This morning I went to RedPlum.com and selected Quaker Oats, State Fair, and Jimmy D's. They are all 3 on one sheet.

So what if stores insisted on seeing the entire sheet, and you wanted to use those at 3 different stores? You would have to print them all separately and waste a lot of paper!

Besides that... do they not print out on a whole sheet of paper when COPIED?!

That cashier was completely unreasonable. I would have taken my phone out and started to video record her attitude so that I could show it to the DM. I bet she would have stopped with the 'tude!

"Don't mind me. I'm just taking video to prove to your boss what an unreasonable _____ you are."